In order to remain competitive in any business, the business and each of its individual parts or business units must run efficiently to meet or exceed the demands of its customers. For example, in the hospitality industry, a typical facility, such as a hotel, spa, or other hospitality facility, includes several areas of operation. Each area of operation requires a certain level of personnel, maintenance, supplies, and management during each year. In the hospitality industry the day-to-day needs of each area of operation are subject to significant change, which the management responsible for each area of the facility must accommodate. Accordingly, an important aspect of operation is budgeting and forecasting to properly adapt to the changing circumstances so as to maximize profits.
A facility, such as a hotel, may include several business units, each of which may have an impact on hotel operation. The hotel may have several points of sale (POS), such as restaurants, bars, etc., where customers perform commercial transactions. Also within a hotel are other business units that provide other hotel services to customers. Each business unit may maintain a record of its associated activities, which may be stored in an associated computer database. Other aspects of hotel operation, such as payroll and accounts payable, sales and catering, etc., also employ a system for accumulating information on each respective aspect of its operation. Each system usually operates independently, each maintaining its own records, which may be kept on paper or stored in computer files.
Historically, there has been little centralized budget planning in the hospitality industry. For example, each business unit within a hotel may have its own budget. Moreover, each budget may be produced with a different tool. That is, one business unit may keep its books using pen and paper, another business unit may employ a commercially available spread sheet, and yet another may utilize a commercial software business package to keep its books. Even when business units may keep their books electronically and employ the same software (e.g., a spread sheet), a department head or other individual responsible for the performing a budget analysis and/or forecasting may require different data fields pertinent to that unit's budgeting and/or forecasting. Additionally, each data set may be stored in a unique record format selected by that individual.
As a result, diverse databases, file systems, and data sources, often employing several unique record formats, may have evolved for numerous business units within a single company or other type of business organization. Consequently, within a management organization responsible for several business units, the diversity of databases and record formats is compounded as various databases, computer file systems and data sources may have evolved, thus resulting in numerous unique and inconsistent record formats. As a result, it may take several individuals weeks or even months to enter appropriate data and prepare an annual budget for a given facility. Moreover, accurate forecasting may further be hindered, as it tends to be complicated to correlate historical data among such diverse types of data.